Just A Drink
by Vickatronic
Summary: This is a fic I wrote during series 24. It's set after the ep when Nick and Zoe argue then he asks her for a drink. I can't remember the exact episode number. If I find it I will edit the description.
1. Chapter 1

Just a Drink?!

What really happened in the office after Nick asked Zoe for a drink:

"About that drink?" Zoe slipped her head around Nick's office door where he was sitting at his desk reviewing some notes.

"I didn't think I'd be seeing you this evening" was his curt response.

"Ditto."

He walks over and leant against the door to push it closed behind her, leaning dangerously close to her lips.

"I'm with Matt now", Zoe said to Nick, trying to be firm but her voice was already quivering.

Nick gently runs his finger down through her fringe and delicately over her ear."You know a drink is never just a drink with us."

Their eyes meet as Zoe breathes in sharply, clear she is fighting her desire for him. "I'm with Matt." Their eyes meet again as Nick pushes the door shut. "Who are you trying to convince?" he asks her softly. Nick leans in and watches her closely as he gently kisses her on the lips. He pulls away, teasing her, daring her to say no but he knows she wants this as much as he does. He slips his hand round her waist to pull her towards him but it was not necessary as she kisses him passionately on the mouth. She runs her hands through his hair and down his body before starting to unbutton his shirt. She pulls away for long enough to tell him "I've wanted this for so long."  
As they fight to remove each other's clothes Nick pushes Zoe on to his desk as patients files and paper go everywhere...

Zoe gets dressed quietly as Nick sleeps on the sofa. Checking the time she saw it was nearly 7.45pm, maybe he would sleep for a while longer so she covered him with his jacket and gently kissed his exposed neck. Before she left she stuck a post-it note on his desk. It read:  
"About that drink... ;-)

Call me  
Zoe  
x"

She leaves the room closing the door quietly behind her but it was loud enough to wake Nick.  
As she walks out through the hospital with a smile on her face, saying goodbye to her colleagues Nick reads the note and smiles. Standing outside the main entrance Zoe lights her cigarette just as her phone begins to ring. She answers it with a flirty smile on her face. "Hello" she says coyly.  
"Are you still free for a drink tonight?"  
"Nick I'm always free when it concerns you. I'll wait for you outside"...

They climbed the stairs to Nick's flat. Having consumed the best part of a bottle of wine Zoe was in high spirits and it made Nick smile to see her so relaxed and happy. There were things that needed to be said but they could wait. Tonight he just wanted to make her feel like the only woman in the world.  
Once they were inside Nick poured some wine while Zoe made herself comfortable on his black leather couch. He joined her and as they drank their wine they talked. Not about work or medicine just life. For those few minutes they were a normal couple. Zoe found herself falling more and more in love with this man who, for the most part, made no effort towards her but tonight things were different. As he led her in to his bedroom she knew Matt could never make her feel this way.

Waking up in the middle of the night was something Zoe was used to. Sometimes she wouldn't get back to sleep and would use it as an opportunity to get things done but tonight she was in Nick's bed and was just so happy to be close to him it didn't matter to her if she fell asleep again or not. She wanted to cherish that moment. Looking at the time on the radio alarm clock it was 4.38am. She was sure he was asleep. "Nick?" she whispered with no reply or movement. "Nick?" There was no response. She lay there for a few minutes before plucking up the courage. He's asleep she kept telling herself. "I love you" she whispered. What a relief it was to have finally told him even if he hadn't heard. Or had he? Just as she got herself comfortable to go back to sleep he wrapped his arms around her and said teasingly "I thought you didn't do love, Dr Hanna."


	2. Chapter 2

"So I'll see you tonight then?"  
She kept watching him as he strode off down the corridor.  
"Yes of course" he responded indifferently.

Zoë had just made one of the biggest decisions of her life, a reaction from the man she was in love with would've been nice but that's Nick Jordan. She knew that deep down he was pleased that she wasn't going to marry Matt, at least she had to believe that.

After dinner at one of Zoë's favourite restaurants in town she invited Nick back to her flat which, of course, he was never going to turn down. The coffee machine worked its magic while Zoë and Nick stood in the kitchen and chatted about work. It wasn't because they were both so dedicated to their jobs that they could switch off it was just they were both avoiding talking about what had happened the night before. Love was not a word either of them used very often.

Nick placed his empty cup down on the glass-topped coffee table in front of him and watched Zoë sip the last dregs of hers. He smiled at her.  
"Nice coffee!"

"Mmm, it was." Zoë reached over and placed her cup down next to his. He moved his hand that had been gently resting on her knee up on to her thigh and lent towards her to caress her neck with his lips.

"I like that a lot" she said in a low tone.

"Oh you do, do you? Well how about this?"

He kissed her passionately gripping her tightly around her waist and pulling her in towards him. Normally at this point she'd be dragging him to bed or at least making an effort to remove his clothes but tonight she seemed content to just sit there and be kissed. He thought something must be wrong.  
"Zoe, are you alright?"

"Just shut up and kiss me ok?!" she replied quickly but there was a fliration in there.

"Well do you wanna go through to your room?"

"Why? No one's going to see!"

"So you wanna do it right here?" He smiled to himself for a moment but kissed her again without giving her time to answer. He just assumed that maybe she was fine after all. He then unzipped the back of her figure-hugging violet dress.

"What the hell Nick?!"

"What? I thought this was what you wanted!"

"Does it always have to be about sex?"

"Well I just thought when you invited me back here... So you're saying you don't want to?"

"I'm not saying that Nick. It's just today was tough, breaking up with Matt like that..."

"So you're not in the mood?"

"No it's not that..."

She kissed him this time with as much passion as he'd shown her and started to unbutton his shirt: "I'm sorry I'm being stupid. Let's go to bed. We can talk tomorrow..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews guys! Nice to know someone is actually reading this. I'm writing another more currect Zoe and Nick fic as well called Return of Mr Jordan if you are interested. I hope you enjoy this part.**

"I'm really sorry Noel, I'll tell her not call here again." Zoe apologised while leaning against the reception desk. Sharice had called for her at work again to let her know what she had been up to with her grandparents.  
"Don't worry about it Dr. Hanna we had a nice little chat."

"Problem Dr. Hanna?" Nick dived in to the conversation. Zoë and Noel both looked up as they'd not seen him coming. It was as if he'd appeared out of nowhere.

"No, no problem."

"Good. Can I see you in my office in 10 minutes please?" He strutted off before she had a chance to ask him what it was about and his face wasn't giving anything away. Was this official or was it off the record? She supposed she'd have to wait and find out.  
At 11am she headed to his office. Usually getting called up here, in her experience, wasn't a good thing but today she had a good feeling. Knocking twice on the door she walked in with a flirty smile on her face.

"Well? You wanted to see me?!"

He walked over to the door and pushed it shut. His eyes lingered on her for too long. If it had been an official visit those reasons had long gone. He kissed her gently and pushed her back against the door. The kiss grew in intensity as Zoë could feel how much he wanted her.  
*Beep Beep Beep Beep*  
Before she had even unbuttoned his shirt the familiar sound of her pager interupted them.

"Leave it" he practically begged her.

"I'm sorry Nick I can't." She'd just checked and there was an RTC on its way in. The ETA was around 5 minutes with multiple casualties. "Adam couldn't cope running resus and supervising the F2s on his own." She had to go down and 2 seconds later Nick was paged as well.

"Zoë! I need you in Resus"

Adam was rushing around organising everyone. This was his first major incident since he was taken hostage by Vince and he wanted to show everyone he could handle it.

"Adam, I'll take Yuki"

"Right, Yuki you go with Zoë and Lenny come with me. Can somebody page Ruth please? Cancel that!" He saw Ruth walk in at that very moment. "Ruth, can you work with May in cubicles please?! Zoë and I will take the handovers and resus."

"Nick, obviously you can't treat but if you could liaise with us and theatre, x-rays etc that would be brilliant. Oh and by the way you've got some lipstick around your mouth." He'd lowered his voice for the latter comment in order to prevent embarrassment but Nick couldn't hide the blush that had risen up his cheeks.

"Time of death 1434." Zoë had been working on this patient for nearly 3 hours. She thought that he was going to make it and then he just crashed.

"Must have been a massive internal bleed. There was nothing you could've done. We were still waiting for a theatre space." Nick put a comforting arm round her but she shrugged him off and headed outside for a smoke.

Adam was still working on a young girl with a badly fractured leg and breathing difficulties caused by crush injuries. She needed that next theatre slot and perhaps the death of Zoë's patient, a 54 year old smoker with health problems, was a blessing in disguise because this girl was not going to hold out for much longer. Nick walked over to take a look.

"I'll get back on the phone to theatre and let them know we need to get up there ASAP or we're going to lose her." He walks over and picks up the phone "Hello its Nick Jordan here, I have a young girl in Resus with significant injuries waiting for a slot in theatre... Yes that's the one. Do you know how long it'll be...? Great thanks"

"Adam, we can send her up now."

"Thanks Nick. By the way it's nice to see you and Zoë getting on again. Are you..?"

Nick avoided the question, "I'll get Big Mac to come and take her up to theatre"  
He left as Zoë returned, the smile she gave him as she passed answered Adam's question without a doubt.

"Adam, where's Yuki?"

"He went to speak to the next of kin."

"Oh shit, I was going to do that I just needed a fag first."

"Zoë, it's ok. He has to learn."

"It's not that it's just I wanted to do it. I don't want him to think I give him all the horrible jobs. Yuki and I, I like to think of us as friends and colleagues. We share the responsibility I don't just boss him around."

Adam chuckles. "Are you feeling ok?"

She smiled "I feel really good actually. Well as good as you can feel after losing a patient you've worked for so long on."

"You get off home."

"Wow, now who's acting strangly? Do you have a temperature?" She reached up to feel his forehead mockingly.

"Well your shift finished 10 minutes ago anyway."

"Thanks Adam. I'll see you tomorrow then."

Adam called over to her "And tell Nick he can get off as well, I have the rest of these covered."

Zoë slowly walked over to Nick who was pouring over a patient's notes with Dr Winters.  
"Try running another tox-screen. I think it's something he's taken rather than something we've given him" was the words of wisdom she overheard Nick imparting on the young doctor.  
"Thanks Mr Jordan"

Zoë turned to him, "Nick we're going home."

"What?"

"Adam said we can go. We've both finished our shifts anyway. I'll wait for you in the car park ok?"

"No it's alright, just wait here, I'll be 2 seconds."

When he reappeared from his office fixing his jacket he asked, "Your place or mine?"

"Come back to mine, I'll cook for you."

"Sounds good, come on then"

He took her hand and they walked out of the ED hand in hand without caring who was looking.


	4. Chapter 4

Zoë opened the door to her flat as quietly as it is possible to after a bottle of wine and a few G & Ts with the girls. The clock on the cooker read 2.46am. Nick had decided to stay at Zoë's after dinner and catch up on some research. She tried not to wake him but everything she did seemed ten times louder than usual.

"Zoe? Is that you?" Nick called as he came out of her bedroom and in to the kitchen.

"Niiiiickkkkkk" she squealed like an excited schoolgirl, throwing herself at him. She kissed his neck. "Mmm, take me to bed…." She started kissing his bare chest but lost her balance and he had to catch her to stop her falling.

"Come and sit down Zoe." He helped her over to the sofa and removed her red and gold stilettos. She instantly started to fall asleep as she lent back against the sofa. Nick just sat and watched her for a moment taking in her beauty. Even when she was in this state he was so attracted to her but also there was something different about her in this moment. It took him a while to realise what it was – she was vulnerable. He watched her for quite a while longer as it was almost 3am before he helped her to bed.  
"Zoe, wake up. We need to get you to bed now. Ok?" He gently shook her to aid his attempts in coaxing her awake.  
She giggled, "Are we going to have sex?"  
"No, I'm not taking advantage of you. You're in no fit state. Come on lets get you undressed." There was a seriousness to his tone, almost like a concerned father.  
He practically carried her to bed wondering why she still felt a need or desire to do this to herself. The moment her head touched the pillow she fell asleep, or passed out. It was hard to tell.

Sun light was filtering in to the room through a gap in the curtain when the alarm went off at 6.45am. Their shift started at 8. Nick stretched, got out of bed and turned the alarm off. Zoë didn't even move she was in such a deep slumber. Seeing her looking so peaceful and knowing fine that she would be in no fit state to work he kissed her forehead and left her sleeping while he took a quick shower.  
The bathroom door opened before he'd even had a chance to wash his hair, slamming against the wall it was opened with such ugency. He heard Zoe retching and vomiting.

"And good morning to you too, Dr Hanna." She could hear the knowing smirk that was stretched across his face.

"Eurgh, shut up, really not.. …in the mood." Her speech was punctuated by retching.

"Good night then?"

"Yeah thanks." She vomited again.

Nick stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.

"You shouldn't see me like this" Zoe said with her head still hanging over the toiler.

"You think one hangover and I'm going to go off you?"

She didn't get a chance to answer before her body was engulfed by another wave of nausea followed by projectile vomiting. Instead of leaving her to it, what she would have expected, Nick crouched down beside her and rubbed her back. Far more than she thought she deserved.

"Zoë I have to go to work now." He'd been getting dressed in stages between her bouts of vomitting and having sat with her on the floor for a good half an hour he was now running late.

"Oh shit! I was supposed to be in at 8 today as well."

"You're in no fit state to go anywhere. Drink plenty of water, get yourself some breakfast when you feel up to it and then if you feel better come in to work."

Nick arrived at work 10 minutes late but Adam had everything under control except he was a consultant down.

"Nick, you haven't seen Zoe on your travels have you?" He hounded Nick as he saw him coming down the corridor.

"Probably just late as usual? Or maybe she's not well?"

Adam walked over to the reception desk, "Noel have you got any messages for me?"

"Dr Hanna called she's not very well, thinks she ate something dodgy last night but will try to come later. She sounded awful."

Adam gave a knowing look in Nick's direction. Something told him that Nick knew exactly where Zoe was and why she wasn't feeling very well.

"Right I'm sure we can cope without her!"

At around 10.30 Zoë finally arrived in the ED wearing a large pair of sunglasses and carrying a particularly strong coffee.

"Ah Dr Hanna, so nice of you to join us." Dr Adam Trueman shouted from behind the reception desk. Zoë flipped her sunglasses up on to the top of her head and tried not to flinch as the bright light of the ED made her head pound.

"I'm so sorry Adam; I was feeling really under the weather this morning."

"Get that coffee down you and get scrubbed up we've got a major incident." He moved in to the centre of the room ready to brief all the staff.

"What have we got?" she asked.

"A house fire, 5 casualties that we know of."

'Oh great, burns' she was thinking, unsure if her stomach was up to it.

"Zoë if you and Yuki treat minor injuries, I will take Resus with Lenny and Ruth." It was as though he'd read her mind.

The first minor injury was a young girl of about 9 with partial thickness burns to her right forearm where she had been forced to reach through some flames while trying to escape the burning building. The Paramedics had covered the burns with water pads and the appropriate dressing but in order for her to be treated those dressings would have to come off. Zoe was dreading it and as she lifted the corner of the dressing she retched.

"Dr Hanna, I can do this if you like?!" Yuki stepped in seeing the look of concern across the patients face.

"Thanks Yuki, I just need a minute."

"Are they really horrible?" she heard her young patient ask Yuki. Zoe felt terrible for making her patient self conscious about something that likely was going to permanently scar her but she just couldn't help it.

She stood outside the cubicle and willed herself not to be sick. Nick was standing at the reception desk on the phone to I.T.U and he caught her eye and smirked. She was so embarrassed and felt her cheeks burning. Having gathered her thoughts and convinced herself that she was fine she headed back in to the cubicle and managed to finish treating her patient and explained to her that the doctor was in fact just a little under the weather today.

The end of the shift rolled around with 4 out of the 5 victims from the house fire making it. Sadly the father of the 2 children died.  
Zoe was dreading facing Nick, she was feeling so embarrassed but felt that she should get it out of the way sooner rather than later so she headed to his office. She knocked twice and waited to be invited in.

"Come in"

"Nick, I just came to apologise. I don't normally get that drunk on what I had last night and rarely that ill…"

"It's fine. Don't worry. At least you didn't throw up on me like Dr. Winters." They both smiled remembering the night Ruth had got a little worse for wear.

"Did I do anything embarrassing when I got back last night then?" Zoe asked, dreading the answer.  
"Apart from asking me if we were going to have sex?" He asked, teasing her.  
She cringed and held her head in her hands.  
"By the way I turned you down," he stepped closer to her maintaining eye contact, "but if you ask me again," he slipped his hands round her waist maintaining eye contact and the sexual tension between them was building, "say tonight, my answer might be different."

She giggled slightly. "I can't believe you still want to be with me after that."

"Zoë lets sit down." His tone had changed and it made her nervous.

They both sat down on the black leather couch in his office and he turned to her,"I really do care about you, you know, and I knew what I was getting, a party girl with an attitude problem" She laughed and slapped him playfully. "I guess what I'm trying to say is…." He paused and she ran her fingers through his hair. Nick lent in and kissed her softly on the lips.

"I know." she said.

He hadn't said those three little words but that kiss meant so much more to her. Just because he couldn't say it didn't mean that didn't feel it.


End file.
